I am completely fascinated by this new site: Download The Universe. It is a group effort from (so far) some 16 science writers. The main goal of the site is summarized in a post from Carl Zimmer who appears to be the instigator in chief of this effort:
"... It is still tough for readers to discover new science ebooks. Traditional book reviews limit themselves to works on paper. Some ebooks may appear in computer magazines, but buried in reviews of laptops and printers. In between, we need a community.
Download the Universe is a step towards that community. It is the work of a group of writers and scientists who are deeply intrigued by the future of science books. (You can find our names and links to our web sites on the right.) Here we review science ebooks--broadly defined, except for ebooks that are just spin-offs of print books. We hope to build up a library of titles that curious readers can browse. Some reviews will be positive, others negative. We welcome your own judgments, and we look forward to vibrant (but civilized) discussions in the comment threads. We will also write essays from time to time about the changes that publishing is undergoing.
As we continue to build Download the Universe, we may change our minds about the scope of its mission. We can't say what those changes will be. We can only be sure they will be here before too long."
I confess - I have never read an ebook of any kind - science or not. And I really really love "real" books - I have collected them for years and years. But I think I am going to start on the ebooks thing. And this site is giving me some ideas for what to start with ... This site is definitely worth checking out, and keeping an eye on ...
